MADERA COUNTY — It’s back! In a battle of wits, Yosemite High School triumphed for the 22nd time in 23 years, making them the champions of the 35th Madera County Academic Decathlon.
Yosemite will advance to the state competition Mar. 23-26 with a score of 36,172.90 to compete against the best teams in the state.
Seven schools competed Saturday in this 10-event competition, answering questions on the topic World War II.
“We are so proud of Yosemite High School and are amazed at the caliber of students we had from every team,” says Dr. Cecilia Massetti.
The Yosemite High team members who will be attending the state competition, led by coach Carole Calderwood are: Honors Division- Katrina Conklin, Alexia Dahlin, Olivia Mattos; Scholastic Division- Brittany Collier, Brandon Healey, Nikki Johnson; Varsity Division- Emily Anderson, Paden Bergdall, Ella Campbell.
Madera High School came in second place with Liberty High School placing third. Chawanakee Academy, Minarets, Chowchilla Union High, and Madera South High Schools also competed in the competition. This was Minarets’ first year competing. Mariposa County High School also participated in the competition.
“We are thrilled to have all of our comprehensive high schools competing this year,” said Massetti.
Decathlon teams are comprised of up to 25 members competing in three levels of competition: Honor (A), Scholastic (B) and Varsity (C) students.
Madera South High School won the Super Quiz competition. All students participated in this year’s Super Quiz. The Super Quiz format this year allowed students in each round to discuss the question before making their individual selections.
“The Super Quiz is a great opportunity for parents and community members to see the students compete,” said Massetti. “The decathletes studied hard all year so exciting to be able to cheer them on.”
A total of 127 medals were handed out at the Awards Ceremony.
Yosemite High was awarded 35 medals: 13 bronze, 12 silver and 10 gold medals. Chawanakee Academy received a total of 22 medals: 6 bronze, 8 silver and 8 gold. Minarets High received 7 medals: 3 bronze, 3 silver, 1 gold.
Chowchilla High received 13 medals: 5 bronze, 6 silver and 2 gold. Liberty High was awarded 20 medals: 7 bronze, 4 silver and 9 gold medals. Madera High received 13 medals: 5 bronze, 4 silver and 4 gold. Madera South High received 7 medals: 5 bronze and 2 silver.
Caleb Lynch from Chawanakee Academy Charter, was the top scoring decathlete this year, scoring 7,556 points across the 10 events.
The top scoring senior from each school will receive a $100 scholarship. The following students earned the senior honors:
Yosemite High School- Brandon Healey
Minarets High School- Sydney Johnson
Chawanakee Academy- Joshua Lynch
Chowchilla Union High School- Prabhjot Kaur
Liberty High School- Jennifer Lind
Madera High School- Erendira Olivares-Reyes
Madera South High School- Ashley Giron-Cortez
The Madera County Academic Decathlon is funded by donations from local businesses and community members. The Madera County Schools Foundation proudly supports the event.
The following is a list of students who received medals.
Art
Honors
Gold: Joshua Lynch, Chawanakee Academy
Silver: Benjamin Johnson, Chawanakee Academy
Caleb Lynch, Chawanakee Academy
Bronze: Olivia Mattos, Yosemite High School
Scholastic
Gold: Brandon Healey, Yosemite High School
Silver: Reynaldo Morales, III, Madera High School
Alan Martinez, Chowchilla High School
Bronze: Nikki Johnson, Yosemite High School
Gillian Singsing, Madera South High School
Varsity
Gold: Paden Bergdall, Yosemite High School
Silver: Emily Anderson, Yosemite High School
Bronze: Harrison Wesley, Chawanakee Academy
Isaiah Blake, Liberty High School
Ruval Shergill, Chowchilla High School
Economics
Honors
Gold: Joshua Lynch, Chawanakee Academy
Silver: Caleb Lynch, Chawanakee Academy
Bronze: Olivia Mattos, Yosemite High School
Scholastic
Gold: Brandon Healey, Yosemite High School
Silver: Alan Martinez, Chowchilla High School
Bronze: Mark Bulgara, Madera South High School
Varsity
Gold: Timothy Portnoff, Liberty High School
Silver: Manvir Johal, Chowchilla High School
Bronze: Grace Clacher, Mariposa County High School
Tays Cornejo, Chowchilla High School
Essay
Honors
Gold: Samantha Norman, Mariposa County High School
Gold: Caleb Lynch, Chawanakee Academy
Silver: Alexia Dahlin, Yosemite High
Bronze: Joshua Lynch, Chawanakee Academy
Scholastic
Gold: Sydney Johnson, Minarets High
Silver: Reynaldo Morales III, Madera High
Bronze: Gillian Singsing, Madera South High
Varsity
Gold: Thomas Caruso, Liberty High
Silver: Dylan Hull, Mariposa County High
Silver: Grace Clatcher, Mariposa County High
Silver: Jeremiah Wold, Minarets High
Bronze: Skylar Wayte, Minarets High
Interview
Honors
Gold: Juliana Leon, Madera High
Gold: Kylie Farmer, Chowchilla Union High
Silver: Anna Sergienko, Mariposa County High
Silver: Kelsey Montalto, Yosemite High
Bronze: Erendira Olivares-Reyes, Madera High
Bronze: Devin Dix, Liberty High
Scholastic
Gold: Brittany Collier, Yosemite High
Silver: Sydney Johnson, Minarets High
Bronze: Mark Bulgara, Madera South High
Varsity
Gold: Vivan Montijo, Liberty High
Silver: Emily Anderson, Yosemite High
Bronze: Ella Campbell, Yosemite High
Language & Literature
Honors
Gold: Caleb Lynch, Chawanakee Academy
Silver: Joshua Lynch, Chawanakee Academy
Bronze: Zachary Griffin, Madera High School
Scholastic
Gold: Natalie Samuelson, Chawanakee Academy
Silver: Samantha Park, Liberty High School
Bronze: Reynaldo Morales, III, Madera High School
Aaliyah Lopez, Madera High School
Varsity
Gold: Thomas Caruso, Liberty High School
Silver: Ella Campbell, Yosemite High School
Emily Anderson, Yosemite High School
Bronze: Paden Bergdall, Yosemite High School
Vivian Montijo, Liberty High School
Mathematics
Honors
Gold: Sydney Keeton, Mariposa County High School
Jennifer Lind, Liberty High School
Caleb Lynch, Chawanakee Academy
Silver: Harveen Grewal, Chowchilla High School
Bronze: Holly Hiatt, Liberty High School
Scholastic
Gold: Brandon Healey, Yosemite High School
Silver: Manjot Kaur, Chowchilla High School
Bronze: Brittany Collier, Yosemite High School
Gillian Singsing, Madera South High School
Varsity
Gold: Emily Anderson, Yosemite High School
Thomas Caruso, Liberty High School
Silver: Timothy Portnoff, Liberty High School
Bronze: Ella Campbell, Yosemite High School
Vivian Montijo, Liberty High School
Music
Honors
Gold: Benjamin Johnson, Chawanakee Academy
Silver: Joshua Lynch, Chawanakee Academy
Caleb Lynch, Chawanakee Academy
Bronze: Kelsey Montalto, Yosemite High School
Jeremy Huey, Yosemite High School
Scholastic
Gold: Brandon Healey, Yosemite High School
Silver: Brittany Collier, Yosemite High School
Bronze: Natalie Samuelson, Chawanakee Academy
Varsity
Gold: Paden Bergdall, Yosemite High School
Montijo, Liberty High School
Silver: Ella Campbell, Yosemite High School
Emily Anderson, Yosemite High School
Bronze: Zet Corpus, Liberty High School
Diego Lopez, Madera High School
Speech
Honors
Gold: Anna Sergienko, Mariposa County High School
Benjamin Johnson, Chawanakee Academy
Silver: Ashley Giron-Cortez, Madera South High School
Bronze: Claire Samuelson, Chawanakee Academy
Katie Glover, Liberty High School
Lilian Dickmeyer, Yosemite High School
Scholastic
Gold: Brandon Healey, Yosemite High School
Silver: Sydney Johnson, Minarets High School
Bronze: Nikki Johnson, Yosemite High School
Varsity
Gold: Emily Anderson, Yosemite High School
Silver: Francine Murillo, Madera High School
Bronze: Paden Bergdall, Yosemite High School
Mason Hough, Minarets High School
Science
Honors
Gold: Joshua Lynch, Chawanakee Academy
Silver: Caleb Lynch, Chawanakee Academy
Bronze: Olivia Mattos, Yosemite High School
Jennifer Lind, Liberty High School
Scholastic
Gold: Reynaldo Morales, III, Madera High School
Silver: Brandon Healey, Yosemite High School
Mark Bulgara, Madera South High School
Bronze: Justin Hough, Minarets High School
Alan Martinez, Chowchilla High School
Varsity
Gold: Grace Clacher, Mariposa County High School
Timothy Portnoff, Liberty High School
Silver: Dylan Hull, Mariposa County High School
Diego Lopez, Madera High School
Isaiah Blake, Liberty High School
Bronze: Paden Bergdall, Yosemite High School
Social Science
Honors
Gold: Jennifer Lind, Liberty High School
Silver: Benjamin Johnson, Chawanakee Academy
Sydney Keeton, Mariposa High School
Bronze: Joshua Lynch, Chawanakee Academy
Scholastic
Gold: Reynaldo Reyes, III, Madera High School
Silver: Brandon Healey, Yosemite High School
Alan Martinez, Chowchilla High School
Bronze: Sandra Martinez, Chowchilla High School
Varsity
Gold: Diego Lopez, Madera High School
Silver: Paden Bergdall, Yosemite High School
Bronze: Ruval Shergill, Chowchilla High School
